Annual Report (10-k)

Our business and future results may be affected by a number of risks and uncertainties that should be considered carefully in evaluating us. In addition, this report also contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including the risks faced by us described below. The occurrence of one or more of the events listed below could also have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

Our business is highly regulated, and if we fail to comply with applicable laws, regulations, rules and guidance, our business could be adversely affected.

Our products and services are subject to extensive regulation, supervision and licensing under various federal, state, local and international statutes, ordinances, regulations, rules and guidance. For example, our loan products may be subject to requirements that generally mandate licensing or authorization as a lender or as a credit services organization or credit access business (“CSO”), establish limits on the amount, duration, renewals or extensions of and charges for (including interest rates and fees) various categories of loans, direct the form and content of our loan contracts and other documentation, restrict collection practices, outline underwriting requirements and subject us to periodic examination and ongoing supervision by regulatory authorities, among other things. We must comply with federal laws, such as TILA, ECOA, FCRA, EFTA, GLBA and Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act, among other laws, as well as regulations adopted to implement those laws. In addition, our marketing and disclosure efforts and the representations made about our products and services are subject to unfair and deceptive practice statutes, including the FTC Act, the TCPA and the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 in the United States and analogous state statutes under which the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”), the CFPB, state attorneys general or private plaintiffs may bring legal actions.

We are also subject to various international laws, licensing or authorization requirements in connection with the products or services we offer in Brazil and the United Kingdom, which are discussed below. Compliance with applicable laws, regulations, rules and guidance requires forms, processes, procedures, training, controls and the infrastructure to support these requirements. Compliance may also create operational constraints, be costly or adversely affect operating results. See “Business—Regulation” of Part I, Item 1 of this report for further discussion of the laws applicable to us.

The regulatory environment in which we conduct our business is extensive and complex. From time to time we become aware of instances where our products and services have not fully complied with requirements under applicable laws and regulations or applicable contracts. Determinations of compliance with applicable requirements or contracts, such as those discussed above, can be highly technical and subject to varying interpretations. When we become aware of such an instance, whether as a result of our compliance reviews, regulator inquiry, customer complaint or otherwise, we generally conduct a review of the activity in question and determine how to address it, such as modifying the product, making customer refunds or providing additional disclosure. We also evaluate whether reports or other notices to regulators are required and provide notice to regulators whenever required. In some cases we have decided and will decide to take corrective action even after applicable statutory or regulatory cure periods have expired, and in some cases we have notified regulators even where such notification may not have been required. Regulators or customers reviewing such incidents or remedial activities may interpret the laws, regulations and customer contracts differently than we have, or may choose to take regulatory action against us or bring private litigation against us notwithstanding the corrective measures we have taken. This may be the case even if we no longer offer the product or service in question.

State, federal and international regulators, as well as the plaintiffs’ bars, have subjected our industry to intense scrutiny in recent years. In addition, our contracts for certain products and services are governed by the law applicable in a state other than the state in which

18

the customer resides. If a court were to reject our choice of law and determine that a contract was governed by the laws of another state, the contract may be unenforceable. Failure to comply with applicable laws, regulations, rules and guidance, or any finding that our past forms, practices, processes, procedures, controls or infrastructure were insufficient or not in compliance, could subject us to regulatory enforcement actions, result in the assessment against us of civil, monetary, criminal or other penalties (some of which could be significant in the case of knowing or reckless violations), result in the issuance of cease and desist orders (which can include orders for restitution, as well as other kinds of affirmative relief), require us to refund payments, interest or fees, result in a determination that certain financial products are not collectible, result in a suspension or revocation of licenses or authorization to transact business, result in a finding that we have engaged in unfair and deceptive practices, limit our access to services provided by third-party financial institutions or cause damage to our reputation, brands and valued customer relationships. We may also incur additional, substantial expenses to bring those products and services into compliance with the laws of various jurisdictions or stop offering certain products and services in certain jurisdictions.

Our failure to comply with any regulations, rules or guidance applicable to our business could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and could prohibit or directly or indirectly impair our ability to continue current operations.

The lending and financing industry continues to be targeted by new laws or regulations in many jurisdictions that could restrict the lending and financing products and services we offer, impose additional compliance costs on us, render our current operations unprofitable or even prohibit our current operations.

Governments at the national, state and local levels, as well as international governments, may seek to impose new laws, regulatory restrictions or licensing requirements that affect the products or services we offer, the terms on which we may offer them, and the disclosure, compliance and reporting obligations we must fulfill in connection with our lending and financing business. They may also interpret or enforce existing requirements in new ways that could restrict our ability to continue our current methods of operation or to expand operations, impose significant additional compliance costs, and may have a negative effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. In some cases, these measures could even directly prohibit some or all of our current business activities in certain jurisdictions, or render them unprofitable and/or impractical to continue.

In recent years, consumer loans, and in particular the category commonly referred to as “payday loans,” which includes certain of our short-term loan products, have come under increased regulatory scrutiny that has resulted in increasingly restrictive regulations and legislation that makes offering such loans in certain states in the United States or the international countries where we operate (as further described below) less profitable or unattractive. Laws or regulations in some states in the United States require that all borrowers of certain short-term loan products be reported to a centralized database and limit the number of loans a borrower may receive or have outstanding. Other laws prohibit us from providing some of our consumer loan products in the United States to active duty military personnel, active members of the National Guard or members on active reserve duty and their spouses and immediate dependents.

Certain consumer advocacy groups and federal and state legislators and regulators have advocated that laws and regulations should be tightened so as to severely limit, if not eliminate, the type of loan products and services we offer to consumers, and this has resulted in both the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. federal government and state governmental bodies exhibiting an interest in debating legislation that could further regulate consumer loan products and services such as those that we offer. The U.S. Congress, as well as other similar federal, state and local bodies and similar international governmental authorities, have debated, and may in the future adopt, legislation or regulations that could, among other things, place a cap (or decrease a current cap) on the interest or fees that we can charge or a cap on the effective annual percentage rate that limits the amount of interest or fees that may be charged, ban or limit loan renewals or extensions of short-term loans (where the customer agrees to pay the current finance charge on a loan for the right to make payment of the outstanding principal balance of such loan at a later date plus an additional finance charge), including the rates to be charged for loan renewals or extensions, require us to offer an extended payment plan, limit origination fees for loans, require changes to our underwriting or collections practices, require lenders to be bonded or to report consumer loan activity to databases designed to monitor or restrict consumer borrowing activity, impose “cooling off” periods between the time a loan is paid off and another loan is obtained or prohibit us from providing any of our consumer loan products in the United States to active duty members of the U.S. military, reservists and members of the National Guard and their immediate families.

We cannot currently assess the likelihood of any future unfavorable federal, state, local or international legislation or regulations being proposed or enacted that could affect our products and services. We closely monitor proposed legislation in jurisdictions where we offer our loan products. Additional legislative or regulatory provisions could be enacted that could severely restrict, prohibit or eliminate our ability to offer a consumer or small business loan or financing product. In addition, under statutory authority, U.S. state regulators have broad discretionary power and may impose new licensing requirements, interpret or enforce existing regulatory requirements in different ways or issue new administrative rules, even if not contained in state statutes, that could adversely affect the way we do business and may force us to terminate or modify our operations in particular states or affect our ability to obtain new licenses or renew the licenses we hold.

19

Significant new laws and regulations have also been adopted in the United Kingdom, and further new laws and regulations will continue to be imposed. See “— The United Kingdom has imposed, and continues to impose, increased regulation of the short-term high-cost credit industry and previously stated its expectation that some firms will exit the market ” for additional information. Furthermore, legislative or regulatory actions may be influenced by negative perceptions of us and our industry, even if such negative perceptions are inaccurate, attributable to conduct by third parties not affiliated with us (such as other industry members), or attributable to matters not specific to our industry.

Any of these or other legislative or regulatory actions that affect our lending and financing business at the national, state, international and local level could, if enacted or interpreted differently, have a material adverse impact on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and could prohibit or directly or indirectly impair our ability to continue current operations.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has examination authority over our U.S. consumer lending business that could have a significant impact on our U.S. business.

In July 2010, the U.S. Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act, and Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act created the CFPB, which regulates U.S. consumer financial products and services, including consumer loans offered by us. The CFPB has regulatory, supervisory and enforcement powers over providers of consumer financial products and services, such as us, including explicit supervisory authority to examine and require registration of such providers.

The CFPB exercises supervisory review over and examines certain non-bank providers of consumer financial products and services, including providers of consumer loans such as us. The CFPB has examined our lending products, services and practices, and we expect to continue to be examined on a regular basis by the CFPB. The CFPB’s examination authority permits CFPB examiners to inspect the books and records of providers of short-term, small dollar lenders, and ask questions about their business practices, and the examination procedures include specific modules for examining marketing activities; loan application and origination activities; payment processing activities and sustained use by consumers; collections, accounts in default, and consumer reporting activities as well as third-party relationships. As a result of these examinations, we could be required to change our products, services or practices, whether as a result of another party being examined or as a result of an examination of us, or we could be subject to monetary penalties, which could materially adversely affect us.

The CFPB also has broad authority to prohibit unfair, deceptive and abusive acts and practices and to investigate and penalize financial institutions that violate this prohibition. In addition to having the authority to obtain monetary penalties for violations of applicable federal consumer financial laws (including the CFPB’s own rules), the CFPB can require remediation of practices, pursue administrative proceedings or litigation and obtain cease and desist orders (which can include orders for restitution or rescission of contracts, as well as other kinds of affirmative relief). Also, where a company has violated Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act or CFPB regulations implemented thereunder, the Dodd-Frank Act empowers state attorneys general and state regulators to bring civil actions to remedy violations of state law. If the CFPB or one or more state attorneys general or state regulators believe that we have violated any of the applicable laws or regulations, they could exercise their enforcement powers in ways that could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

We are subject to a Consent Order issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and any noncompliance would materially adversely affect our business.

On January 25, 2019, we consented to the issuance of a Consent Order by the CFPB pursuant to which we agreed, without admitting or denying any of the facts or conclusions, to pay a civil money penalty of $3.2 million. The Consent Order relates to issues self-disclosed to the CFPB in 2014, including failure to provide loan extensions to 308 consumers and debiting approximately 5,500 consumers from the wrong bank account. We remain subject to the restrictions and obligations of the Consent Order, including a prohibition from engaging in certain conduct. Any noncompliance with the Consent Order or similar orders or agreements from other regulators could lead to further regulatory penalties and could have a material adverse impact on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and could prohibit or directly or indirectly impair our ability to continue current operations.

The CFPB recently finalized a new rule that may affect the consumer lending industry, and this rule could have a material adverse effect on our U.S. consumer lending business.

On October 6, 2017, the CFPB issued its final rule on payday and certain high-cost installment loans, also known as the “Small Dollar Rule,” which would cover some of the loans we offer. The Small Dollar Rule requires that lenders who make short-term loans and longer-term loans with balloon payments reasonably determine consumers’ ability to repay the loans according to their terms before issuing the loans. The Small Dollar Rule also introduces new limitations on repayment processes for those lenders as well as lenders of other longer-term loans with an annual percentage rate greater than 36 percent that include an ACH authorization or similar

20

payment provision. If a consumer has two consecutive failed payment attempts, the lender must obtain the consumer’s new and specific authorization to make further withdrawals from the consumer’s bank account. For loans covered by the Small Dollar Rule, lenders must provide certain notices to consumers before attempting a first payment withdrawal or an unusual withdrawal and after two consecutive failed payment attempts. The Small Dollar Rule has a compliance date of August 19, 2019, but was stayed indefinitely by a Texas federal district court . On October 26, 2018, the CFPB under then-acting Director Mick Mulvaney announced that the CFPB would reconsider the Small Dollar Rule. In December 2018, Kathy Kraninger was confirmed by the Senate as the CFPB’s new director. Following her confirmation, the CFPB announced that it would revisit the Small Dollar Rule. On February 6, 2019, the CFPB issued two notices of proposed rulemaking: (1) to rescind the Small Dollar Rule’s mandatory underwriting provisions, including the ability to repay requirements and (2) to delay the August 19, 2019 compliance date for those provisions until November 19, 2020. The proposed rescission of the underwriting provisions is open to public comment for 90 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register. The delay is open to public comment for 30 days. I t is also likely that there will be legal challenges to the Small Dollar Rule before it goes into effect. We cannot currently assess the likelihood that the CFPB will make additional changes to the Small Dollar Rule, nor whether the Small Dollar Rule will become effective . If the Small Dollar Rule does become effective in its current proposed form, we will need to make certain changes to our payment processes and customer notifications in our U.S. consumer lending business. If we are not able to execute these changes effectively because of unexpected complexities, costs or otherwise, we cannot guarantee that the Small Dollar Rule will not have a material adverse impact on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

The United Kingdom has imposed, and continues to impose, increased regulation of the short-term high-cost credit industry and previously stated its expectation that some firms will exit the market.

In the United Kingdom, the FCA regulates consumer credit and related activities pursuant to the FSMA and the FCA Handbook, which includes prescriptive rules and regulations and carries across many of the standards set out in the CCA and its secondary legislation as well as previous guidance initially set out by the OFT. The regulations under the FCA consumer credit regime are more prescriptive than the former U.K. consumer credit regime. The FSMA gives the FCA the power to authorize, supervise, examine and bring enforcement actions against providers of consumer credit, as well as to make rules for the regulation of consumer credit.

In 2014, the FCA issued the CONC contained in the FCA Handbook. The CONC incorporates prescriptive regulations for consumer loans such as those that we offer, including mandatory affordability checks on borrowers, limiting the number of rollovers on short-term loans to two, restricting how lenders can advertise, banning advertisements that the FCA deems misleading, and introducing a limit of two unsuccessful attempts on the use of continuous payment authority (which provides a creditor the ability to directly debit a customer’s account for payment when authorized by the customer to do so) to pay off a loan. The provisions of the CONC took effect in 2014. As a result of the FCA’s requirements, we made significant adjustments to many of our business practices in the United Kingdom, as discussed below under “— Our primary regulators in the United Kingdom previously expressed serious concerns about our compliance with applicable U.K. regulations, which caused us to make significant changes to our U.K. business that negatively impacted our operations and results, and future changes to our operations as a result of regulator concerns could have a material adverse effect on our U.K. business. ”

On January 2, 2015, the FCA implemented a cap on the total cost of high-cost short-term credit. In 2015, the FCA also conducted a consultation and implemented a provision that requires providers of high-cost short-term credit include a risk warning in all financial promotions. In 2016, the FCA reviewed the loan price cap that was implemented in 2015 and decided not to change the price cap but to review it again in three years. In July 2017, the FCA issued a Consultation Paper on proposed changes to its rules and guidance on assessing creditworthiness in consumer credit. The FCA requested responses to the consultation by October 31, 2017 and expects to publish its findings in the second quarter of 2018. We do not currently know whether or how the FCA may amend its rules and guidance on assessing creditworthiness in consumer credit or how it will affect our business operations. If any new rules or guidance significantly restrict the conduct of our business, such implementation could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

The FCA also plans to investigate unarranged overdrafts, the long-term use of high-cost credit, rent-to-own, home-collected credit and catalog credit markets and to issue a Consultation Paper on proposed solutions in the spring of 2018. We do not currently know what solutions the FCA may implement as a result or how any changes may affect our business operations. If any new rules or guidance significantly restrict the conduct of our business, such implementation could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

The FCA may review and implement regulatory activities in the future that may impact our U.K. business, and we cannot give any assurances that the result will not have a material impact on our U.K. products and services.

21

Our primary regulators in the United Kingdom previously expressed serious concerns about our compliance with applicable U.K. regulations, which caused us to make significant changes to our U.K. business that negatively impacted our operations and results, and future changes to our operations as a result of regulator concerns could have a material adverse effect on our U.K. business.

In February 2012, the OFT launched a review of the payday lending sector and conducted examinations of a number of payday lenders in the United Kingdom, including us. In May 2013, the OFT sent us a letter of findings related to its examination of our U.K. short term consumer loan (or payday) business, which indicated that we may not have been in full compliance with all relevant laws and guidance. In July 2013, we provided the OFT with an independent audit report setting out the steps taken to address each concern the OFT had identified.

On April 1, 2014, the FCA assumed the supervision and regulation of us, and we are subject to ongoing examination and review by the FCA. In 2014, the FCA informed us that it had serious concerns regarding our compliance with the FCA’s rules and principles, including those with respect to our affordability assessment process and our debt forbearance practices (or our practices regarding customers who have indicated they are experiencing financial difficulty). The FCA also noted concerns regarding certain of our advertising practices. The FCA appointed an independent auditor to undertake a review of certain of our practices as well as our ability to be effectively supervised. That review identified activities that were deemed to have potentially caused consumer detriment or were not in full compliance with the FCA’s rules and guidance. On November 4, 2015, the FCA announced the final redress program, in which we provided 3,940 customers total redress of approximately $2.6 million through a combination of loan balance waivers and cash refunds of interest and fees paid. The skilled person oversaw the execution of the redress program, which was concluded in the fourth quarter of 2015.

We made significant adjustments to many of our business practices, including modifying our affordability assessments and underwriting standards, reducing certain maximum loan amounts, changing our collections processes (including our practices relating to continuous payment authority) and debt forbearance practices and altering certain advertising practices, all of which resulted in a significant year-over-year decrease in our U.K. loan volume, U.K. loan balances and U.K. revenue in the second half of 2014 and the first half of 2015. The implementation of stricter affordability assessments and underwriting standards resulted in a decrease in the number of consumer loans written, the average consumer loan amount and the total amount of consumer loans written to new and returning customers. Additionally, we experienced and will continue to experience an increase in compliance- and administrative-related costs for our U.K. operations. In addition, the FCA, in its supervisory role, could subject us to periodic or ongoing examination and review by the FCA, and as such, the FCA could require us to make additional changes to our business that could further negatively affect future results for our U.K. operations. We are continuing to assess the impact of the changes we have made to our U.K. operations, but the impact of these changes was significant, and future changes to our operations as a result of FCA oversight of our business could result in a material adverse effect on our U.K. business and our prospects, results of operation, financial condition and cash flows.

Competition regulators in the United Kingdom have reviewed and may in the future again review our industry and, together with the FCA, could require lenders to implement changes to their operations, which could have a negative effect on our operations in the United Kingdom.

In June 2013, the OFT referred the payday lending industry in the United Kingdom to the Competition Commission, which is now the Competition & Markets Authority (“CMA”), for a market investigation. The CMA gathered data from industry participants, including us, in connection with its review of the U.K. payday lending industry to determine whether certain features of the payday lending industry prevent, restrict or distort competition (which is also referred to as having an adverse effect on competition) and, if so, what remedial action should be taken.

On June 11, 2014, the CMA released a provisional findings report in which it indicated that it believed that many payday lenders fail to compete on price and that it would look at potential ways to increase price competition. On August 13, 2015, the CMA published its final order that required online lenders to provide details of their products on at least one price comparison website. The CMA also required online and storefront lenders to provide existing customers with a summary of their cost of borrowing as of August 13, 2016.

The impact of the CMA’s August 13, 2015 order on our operations has not been significant. However, we do not know whether future actions by the CMA and the FCA could impact consumer acceptance of our products or the consumer experience in obtaining loans or if any future actions could otherwise significantly restrict the conduct of our business or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (“FOS”) was created by Parliament in 2000 to act as an independent arbitral body to resolve complaints between businesses and consumers. Customer complaints to the FOS could increase, which could have a negative effect on our operations in the United Kingdom.

22

We continue to experience an increased volume of complaints about loans issued both before and after the changes we implemented in 2014, and the FOS has taken a very consumer-friendly approach to its complaint handling process and dispute resolutions. We have been required to make significant payments to customers to resolve these complaints. We have also incurred significant costs in the form of FOS administrative fees associated with each individual complaint submitted to FOS, as well as operational costs necessary to manage the large volume of complaints. The FOS has evidenced signs of expanding its consumer-focused approach through changes in the FOS’s interpretation of its complaint handling rights and obligations. We also observed the FOS interpreting FCA rules and guidance in a manner that is stricter than, and sometimes in direct conflict with, the FCA’s own interpretation of its rules and guidance. If the FOS continues to issue findings in this manner, and we are required to continue making significant payments to resolve complaints, such findings could again have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

We further expect an increase in complaints-related costs due to recent FOS findings effectively eliminating a time bar for claimants to raise complaints.

Much of the increased overall volume of complaints can be attributed to submissions by third party Claims Management Companies (“CMCs”) on behalf of borrowers. We have been forced to expend significant resources handling this volume of complaints and determining defense strategies where appropriate. CMC activity is regulated by the Claims Management Regulator; however, effective April 1, 2019, CMC regulation will be transferred to the FCA. CMCs must register with the FCA for authorization by March 31, 2019 and are now eligible to apply for temporary authorization. We believe that this shift in regulator will be beneficial to us as CMCs will be required to meet stricter authorization requirements under the FCA.  FCA regulation of CMCs may lower complaints volume but we are not able to know that at this time.

Our advertising and marketing materials and disclosures have been and continue to be subject to regulatory scrutiny, particularly in the United Kingdom.

In the jurisdictions where we operate, our advertising and marketing activities and disclosures are subject to regulation under various industry standards, consumer protection laws, and other applicable laws and regulations. Consistent with the consumer lending industry as a whole, our advertising and marketing materials have come under increased scrutiny. In the United Kingdom, for example, consumer credit firms are subject to the financial promotions regime set out in the FSMA (Financial Promotions) Order 2005 and specific rules in the CONC, such as the inclusion of a risk warning on certain advertising materials. The FCA has also decided to adopt certain elements of industry codes as FCA rules on a case-by-case basis. Our advertising and marketing materials in the United Kingdom are reviewed both by the FCA and the Advertising Standards Authority. We have in some cases been ordered to withdraw, amend or add disclosures to such materials, or have done so voluntarily in response to inquiries or complaints. In addition, the FCA now requires that providers of high-cost short-term credit include a risk warning in all financial promotions, including previously exempted size-limited ads like SMS text messages and pay-per-click ads.

Going forward, there can be no guarantee that we will be able to advertise and market our business in the United Kingdom or elsewhere in a manner we consider effective. Any inability to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

The consequences of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union are yet unknown, but could indirectly affect our operations.

The United Kingdom is scheduled to withdraw from the European Union on March 29, 2019 (“Brexit”). On January 15, 2019, Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposal for how the United Kingdom is to withdraw from the European Union was defeated in the House of Commons. We do not believe Brexit, or the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, poses a direct risk to our U.K. business. Brexit may indirectly affect our business through the impact that it has on the value of the British Pound and the U.K. economy as a whole, but, at this time, we are not able to reasonably quantify that risk or the likelihood of Brexit indirectly impacting our U.K. business.

Significant changes in international laws or regulations or a deterioration of the political, regulatory or economic environment of the United Kingdom or Brazil, or any other country in which we begin operations, could affect our operations in these countries.

We offer, arrange and/or service online consumer loans to customers in Brazil and the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom regularly evaluates the regulation of our industry and introduces new regulations and is likely to continue to do so. New legislation or regulations could further restrict the consumer loan products we offer.

Significant changes in international laws or regulations or a deterioration of the political, regulatory or economic environment of Brazil or the United Kingdom could restrict our ability to sustain or expand our operations in these countries. Similarly, a significant change in laws, regulations or overall treatment (including an interpretation or application of such laws and regulations not anticipated when exploring or initiating business) or a deterioration of the political, regulatory or economic environment of any other country in which we may decide to do business, could also materially adversely affect our prospects and could restrict our ability to initiate a pilot program or develop a pilot program into full business operations.

23

The election of a new president in Brazil could significantly change regulatory, legal or other policies that could affect our business.

In October 2018, President Jair Bolsonaro was elected in Brazil. As a result of this election and certain political and regulatory reforms involving the Social Security System and fintech companies expected in 2019, Brazil faces instability that may affect our business.

We have previously ceased business in certain jurisdictions due to regulatory restrictions and, if we are forced to exit many key jurisdictions due to regulatory restrictions, it could adversely affect our business as a whole.

In the past we have ceased business in, restricted our operations in, or chosen not to begin business in, certain jurisdictions due to regulatory restrictions which render our operations impermissible, unprofitable or impractical. In addition, because we are in some cases subject to state/provincial and local regulation in addition to federal/national regulation, we may restrict or discontinue business in certain jurisdictions within countries where we are otherwise active. For example, as of December 31, 2018, we did not offer or arrange consumer loans in 18 U.S. states because we do not believe it is economically feasible to operate in those jurisdictions due to specific statutory or regulatory restrictions, such as interest rate ceilings or caps on the fees that may be charged.

The adoption of state regulatory measures cannot be predicted, but we expect that other states may propose or enact similar restrictions impacting our consumer or small business loan or financing products in the future, which could affect our operations in such states. Legislation or regulations targeting or otherwise directly affecting our products and services have been introduced or adopted in a number of states over the last few years, and we regularly monitor proposed legislation or regulations that could affect our business. For more information, see “Regulation and Legal Proceedings—U.S. State Regulation.”

If we are forced to exit many key jurisdictions due to such concerns, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to find suitably attractive additional business opportunities elsewhere, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Our access to payment processing systems to disburse and collect loan and financing proceeds and repayments, including the Automated Clearing House, is critical to our business, and any interruption or limitation on our ability to utilize any of the available means of processing deposits or payments could materially adversely affect our business.

When making loans and providing financing in the United States, we use several means of depositing proceeds into and collecting repayments from our customers’ bank accounts, including the use of ACH. Our business, including loans made through the CSO programs, depends on payment processing systems to collect amounts due by repayments from our customers’ bank accounts when we have obtained authorization to do so from the customer. Our transactions are processed by banks, and if these banks cease to provide any of the available means of payment processing services, we would have to materially alter, or possibly discontinue, some or all of our business if alternative processing methods are not as effective or not available.

Previous heightened regulatory scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and other regulators, in an action referred to as Operation Choke Point, caused banks and ACH payment processors to cease doing business with certain short-term consumer lenders who were operating legally, without regard to whether those lenders were complying with applicable laws, simply to avoid the risk of heightened scrutiny or even litigation.

Our access to payment processing systems could be impaired as a result of actions by regulators to cut off the access to payment processing systems to payday lenders or by rule changes by the National Automated Clearinghouse Association (“NACHA”), which oversees the ACH network. The limited number of financial institutions we depend on may choose to discontinue providing ACH processing, remotely created check processing and similar services to us. If our access to any of these means of payment processing is impaired, we may find it difficult or impossible to continue some or all of our business, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. If we are unable to maintain access to needed services on favorable terms, we would have to materially alter, or possibly discontinue, some or all of our business if alternative processors are not available.

The failure to comply with debt collection regulations could subject us to fines and other liabilities, which could harm our reputation and business.

The FDCPA regulates persons who regularly collect or attempt to collect, directly or indirectly, consumer debts owed or asserted to be owed to another person. Many states impose additional requirements on persons collecting or attempting to collect consumer debts owed to them and on debt collection communications, and some of those requirements may be more stringent than the federal requirements. Moreover, regulations governing debt collection are subject to changing interpretations that differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

24

In addition, in 2016, the CFPB issued an outline of proposals intended to increase consumer protection pertaining to third-party debt collectors and others covered by the FDCPA, which would apply to our attempts to collect debt originated by other lenders, including under our CSO programs. The proposals would not apply to our attempts to collect debt that we originate; however, the CFPB has announced that it plans to address consumer protection issues involving first-party debt collectors and creditors separately. The CFPB outline does not include proposed or final rules, and any future rules could be significantly different from those in the outline. The CFPB has not yet defined a date for any proposed rules related to debt collection nor has it defined the effective date for the implementation of final rules. We cannot give any assurances that the effect of such rules will not have a material impact on our U.S. products and services.

Non-U.S. jurisdictions also regulate debt collection. For example, in the United Kingdom, due to changes to rules under the CONC, we previously made adjustments to our collections processes, which resulted in lower collections on loans made by us. In addition, the concerns previously expressed to us by the OFT and the FCA related in part to debt collection. We could be subject to fines, written orders or other penalties if we, or parties working on our behalf, are determined to have violated the FDCPA, the CONC or analogous state or international laws, which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

We use lead providers and marketing affiliates to assist us in obtaining new customers, and if lead providers or marketing affiliates do not comply with an increasing number of applicable laws and regulations, or if our ability to use such lead providers or marketing affiliates is otherwise impaired, it could adversely affect our business.

We are dependent on third parties, referred to as lead providers (or lead generators) and marketing affiliates, as a source of new customers. Our marketing affiliates place our advertisements on their websites that direct potential customers to our websites. Generally, lead providers operate, and also work with their own marketing affiliates who operate, separate websites to attract prospective customers and then sell those “leads” to online lenders. As a result, the success of our business depends substantially on the willingness and ability of lead providers or marketing affiliates to provide us customer leads at acceptable prices.

If regulatory oversight of lead providers or marketing affiliates is increased, through the implementation of new laws or regulations or the interpretation of existing laws or regulations, our ability to use lead providers or marketing affiliates could be restricted or eliminated. For example, the CFPB has indicated its intention to examine compliance with federal laws and regulations by lead providers and to scrutinize the flow of non-public, private consumer information between lead providers and lead buyers, such as us. Over the past few years, several states have taken actions that have caused us to discontinue the use of lead providers in those states. While these discontinuations did not have a material adverse effect on us, other states may propose or enact similar restrictions on lead providers and potentially on marketing affiliates in the future, and if other states adopt similar restrictions, our ability to use lead providers or marketing affiliates in those states would also be interrupted. We also expect that the ongoing regulatory review of consumer lending in the United Kingdom may lead to increased restrictions on the operations and/or use of lead providers.

Lead providers’ or marketing affiliates’ failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, or any changes in laws or regulations applicable to lead providers or marketing affiliates’ or changes in the interpretation or implementation of such laws or regulations, could have an adverse effect on our business and could increase negative perceptions of our business and industry. Additionally, the use of lead providers and marketing affiliates could subject us to additional regulatory cost and expense. If our ability to use lead generators or marketing affiliates were to be impaired, our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be materially adversely affected.

The use of personal data for credit underwriting is highly regulated.

In the United States, the FCRA regulates the collection, dissemination and use of consumer information, including consumer credit information. Compliance with the FCRA and related laws and regulations concerning consumer reports has recently been under regulatory scrutiny. The FCRA requires us to provide a Notice of Adverse Action to a consumer loan applicant when we deny an application for credit, which, among other things, informs the applicant of the action taken regarding the credit application and the specific reasons for the denial of credit. The FCRA also requires us to promptly update any credit information reported to a consumer reporting agency about a consumer and to allow a process by which consumers may inquire about credit information furnished by us to a consumer reporting agency. Historically, the FTC has played a key role in the implementation, oversight, enforcement and interpretation of the FCRA. Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act, the CFPB has primary supervisory, regulatory and enforcement authority of FCRA issues, although the FTC also retains its enforcement role regarding the FCRA. The CFPB has taken a more active approach than the FTC, including with respect to regulation, enforcement and supervision of the FCRA. Changes in the regulation, enforcement or supervision of the FCRA may materially affect our business if new regulations or interpretations by the CFPB or the FTC require us to materially alter the manner in which we use personal data in our credit underwriting. In 2018, the State of California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”), which will come into effect on January 1, 2020 and expands the privacy rights of California residents and regulates the sale of the consumer information of California residents. California legislators have stated that they intend to propose amendments to the CCPA and it remains unclear what, if any, modifications will be made to the CCPA or how it will be interpreted. Compliance with the CCPA may increase the cost of conducting business in California and we could see

25

increased litigation costs once the law goes into effect. Several other states have proposed legislation regarding data privacy and use, which, if passed, could create more risks and potential costs.

In the United Kingdom, we are also subject to the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 (the “DPA”) and are required to be fully registered as a data-controller under the DPA. The DPA controls how organizations, businesses and/or the government use personal data and how they should process it. The current Data Protection regime aligns with the E.U. General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), a regulation by which the European Parliament, the European Council and the European Commission intend to strengthen and unify data protection for individuals within the European Union. It also addresses export of personal data outside the European Union. The GDPR contains a number of new protections for E.U. data subjects and threatens significant fines and penalties for non-compliant data controllers and processors. Should the United Kingdom exit the European Union, it is expected that the United Kingdom would establish a new framework for data flow between the United Kingdom and the United States or will agree to continue the protections of the GDPR for the transfer of personal data into and out of the United Kingdom. We expect to comply with any framework established by the United Kingdom for the transfer of personal data into and out of the United Kingdom.

We previously had Safe Harbor certification, which evidenced compliance with the DPA and the European Union Data Protection Directive and allowed companies to pass E.U. data to non-E.U. countries if certain certification requirements were met by the company. Although the European Court of Justice invalidated the Safe Harbor framework in 2015, there are other circumstances under which a company is exempt from complying with those laws and regulations. In addition, in 2016, the European Commission and the United States agreed on a new framework for transatlantic data flows called the E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield, which will replace the invalidated Safe Harbor framework. Although we are exploring the possibility of applying for certification to the E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield and, despite the invalidation of the Safe Harbor framework, we believe that we are exempt from and/or are in compliance with all E.U. and U.K. privacy laws and regulations and will continue to be so under the GDPR.

The oversight of the FCRA by both the CFPB and the FTC and any related investigation or enforcement activities or our failure to comply with the DPA may have a material adverse impact on our business, including our operations, our mode and manner of conducting business and our financial results.

Negative public perception of our business could cause demand for our products to significantly decrease.

In recent years, consumer advocacy groups and some media reports have advocated governmental action to prohibit or place severe restrictions on short-term and high-cost consumer loans. Such consumer advocacy groups and media reports generally focus on the annual percentage rate for this type of consumer loan, which is compared unfavorably to the interest typically charged by banks to consumers with top-tier credit histories. The fees and/or interest charged by us and others in the industry attract media publicity about the industry and can be perceived as controversial. If the negative characterization of these types of loans becomes increasingly accepted by consumers, demand for any or all of the consumer loan products that we offer could significantly decrease, which could materially affect our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Additionally, if the negative characterization of these types of loans is accepted by legislators and regulators, we could become subject to more restrictive laws and regulations applicable to short-term loans or other consumer loan products that we offer that could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and could impair our ability to continue current operations.

In addition, our ability to attract and retain customers is highly dependent upon the external perceptions of our level of service, trustworthiness, business practices, financial condition and other subjective qualities. Negative perceptions or publicity regarding these matters—even if related to seemingly isolated incidents, or even if related to practices not specific to short-term loans, such as debt collection—could erode trust and confidence and damage our reputation among existing and potential customers, which could make it difficult for us to attract new customers and retain existing customers and could significantly decrease the demand for our products, could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and could impair our ability to continue current operations.

Democratic control of the U.S. House of Representatives could reduce the likelihood that significant financial services legislation will be passed in the new Congress.

In January 2019, the Democratic party took control of the House of Representatives. Both members of the Democratic party, Nancy Pelosi was elected as the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Maxine Waters was appointed the Chairwoman of the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services. We expect this may lead to a heightened degree of oversight from the House of Representatives, particularly with respect to the CFPB, and additional legislation relating to consumer financial services generated by the House of Representatives. Continued Republican control of the U.S. Senate and Presidency makes it unlikely that any material legislation will be enacted.

26

Current and future litigation or regulatory proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

We have been and are currently subject to lawsuits (including purported class actions) that could cause us to incur substantial expenditures, generate adverse publicity and could significantly impair our business, force us to cease doing business in one or more jurisdictions or cause us to cease offering or alter one or more products. We are also likely to be subject to further litigation in the future. An adverse ruling in or a settlement of any current or future litigation against us or another provider or loans or financings could cause us to have to refund fees and/or interest collected, forego collection of the principal amount of loans or the delivery of purchased receivables, pay treble or other multiple damages, pay monetary penalties and/or modify or terminate our operations in particular jurisdictions.

Defense of any lawsuit, even if successful, could require substantial time and attention of our management and could require the expenditure of significant amounts for legal fees and other related costs. We and others are also subject to regulatory proceedings, and we could suffer losses as a result of interpretations of applicable laws, rules and regulations in those regulatory proceedings, even if we are not a party to those proceedings. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and could impair our ability to continue current operations.

Judicial decisions, CFPB rulemaking or amendments to the Federal Arbitration Act could render the arbitration agreements we use illegal or unenforceable.

We include arbitration provisions in our consumer and business loan and financing agreements. These provisions are designed to allow us to resolve any customer disputes through individual arbitration rather than in court and explicitly provide that all arbitrations will be conducted on an individual and not on a class basis. Thus, our arbitration agreements, if enforced, have the effect of shielding us from class action liability. Our arbitration agreements do not generally have any impact on regulatory enforcement proceedings. We take the position that the arbitration provisions in loan and financing agreements, including class action waivers, are valid and enforceable; however, the enforceability of arbitration provisions is often challenged in court. If those challenges are successful, our arbitration and class action waiver provisions could be unenforceable, which could subject us to additional litigation, including additional class action litigation.

In addition, the U.S. Congress has considered legislation that would generally limit or prohibit mandatory arbitration agreements in consumer contracts and has enacted legislation with such a prohibition with respect to certain mortgage loan agreements and also certain consumer loan agreements to members of the military on active duty and their dependents. Further, the Dodd-Frank Act directed the CFPB to study consumer arbitration and report to the U.S. Congress, and it authorized the CFPB to adopt rules limiting or prohibiting consumer arbitration, consistent with the results of its study.

The CFPB did issue a final rule on arbitration, which would have prohibited class action waivers in certain consumer financial services contracts. However, the House and Senate each passed a resolution of disapproval of the rule, pursuant to their powers under the Congressional Review Act, and the President signed the bill. Because the rule was disapproved, it cannot be reissued in substantially the same form, and the CFPB cannot issue a substantially similar rule unless the new rule is specifically authorized by a law enacted after the date of the joint resolution disapproving the original rule.

Any judicial decisions, legislation or other rules or regulations that impair our ability to enter into and enforce consumer arbitration agreements and class action waivers will increase our exposure to class action litigation as well as litigation in plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions, which would be costly and could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

The failure of third parties who provide products, services or support to us to maintain their products, services or support could disrupt our operations or result in a loss of revenue.

A portion of our short-term consumer loan and installment loan revenue depends in part on the willingness and ability of unaffiliated third-party lenders, through the CSO programs, to make loans to customers. We also utilize many other third parties to provide services to facilitate our lending and financing, including in our underwriting and payment processing. In addition, we rely on a third party lender in connection with our lending business in Brazil. The loss of the relationship with any of these third parties, and an inability to replace them or the failure of these third parties to maintain quality and consistency in their programs or services or to have the ability to provide their products and services, could cause us to lose customers and substantially decrease the revenue and earnings of our business. Our revenue and earnings could also be adversely affected if any of those third-party providers make material changes to the products or services that we rely on. We also use third parties to support and maintain certain of our communication systems and information systems. If a third-party provider fails to provide its products or services, makes material changes to such products and services, does not maintain its quality and consistency or fails to have the ability to provide its products and services, our

27

operations could be disrupted. Any of these events could result in a loss of revenue and could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Our business depends on the uninterrupted operation of our systems and business functions, including our information technology and other business systems, as well as the ability of such systems to support compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Our business is highly dependent upon our employees’ ability to perform, in an efficient and uninterrupted fashion, necessary business functions, such as internet support, call center activities, and processing and servicing of our loans and receivables purchase agreements. A shut-down of or inability to access the facilities in which our internet operations and other technology infrastructure are based, such as a power outage, a failure of one or more of our information technology, telecommunications or other systems, or sustained or repeated disruptions of such systems could significantly impair our ability to perform such functions on a timely basis and could result in a deterioration of our ability to underwrite, approve and process loans and finance receivables, provide customer service, perform collections activities, or perform other necessary business functions. Any such interruption could have a materially adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

In addition, our systems and those of third parties on whom we rely must consistently be capable of compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements and timely modification to comply with new or amended requirements. Any such systems problems going forward could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial conditions and cash flows and could impair or prohibit our ability to continue current operations.

Decreased demand for our products and specialty financial services and our failure to adapt to such decrease could result in a loss of revenue and could have a material adverse effect on us.

The demand for a particular product or service may decrease due to a variety of factors, such as regulatory restrictions that reduce customer access to particular products, the availability of competing or alternative products or changes in customers’ financial conditions. Should we fail to adapt to a significant change in our customers’ demand for, or access to, our products, our revenue could decrease significantly. Even if we make adaptations or introduce new products to fulfill customer demand, customers may resist or may reject products whose adaptations make them less attractive or less available. In any event, the effect of any product change on the results of our business may not be fully ascertainable until the change has been in effect for some time. In particular, we have changed, and will continue to change, some of our operations and the products we offer. Any of these events could result in a loss of revenue and could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Potential union activities could have an adverse effect on our relationship with our workforce.

None of our employees are currently covered by a collective bargaining agreement or represented by an employee union. Occasionally we experience union organizing activities. If our employees become represented by an employee union or become subject to a collective bargaining agreement, it may make it more difficult for us to manage our business and to attract and retain new employees and may increase our cost of doing business. Having our employees become represented by an employee union, having a collective bargaining agreement or having additional requirements related to our employees imposed on us could result in work stoppages and higher employee costs and could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and could impair our ability to continue current operations.

If our allowance for losses on loans and finance receivables and liability for estimated losses on third-party lender-owned consumer loans is not adequate or if we do not successfully manage our credit risk, our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows may be adversely affected.

As more fully described under Note 1 to our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018 included in Part II, Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in this report, we utilize a variety of underwriting criteria, monitor the performance of our loan portfolios and maintain either an allowance or liability for estimated losses on loans (including fees and interest) at a level estimated to be adequate to absorb credit losses inherent in the receivables portfolio and expected losses from loans guaranteed under the CSO programs. The allowance deducted from the carrying value of loans and finance receivables was $163.3 million at December 31, 2018, and the liability for estimated losses on third-party lender-owned consumer loans was $2.2 million at December 31, 2018. These reserves are estimates, and if actual loan losses or losses on our receivables purchase agreements are materially greater than our reserves, our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected. In addition, if we do not successfully manage credit risk for our unsecured loans and receivables purchase agreements through our underwriting, we could incur substantial credit losses due to customers being unable to repay their loans or financings. Any failure to manage credit risk could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

28

We are subject to impairment risk.

At December 31, 2018, we had goodwill totaling $267.0 million on our consolidated balance sheets, all of which represents assets capitalized in connection with acquisitions and business combinations. Accounting for goodwill requires significant management estimates and judgment. Events may occur in the future, and we may not realize the value of our goodwill. Management performs periodic reviews of the carrying values of our goodwill to determine whether events and circumstances indicate that impairment in value may have occurred. A variety of factors could cause the carrying value of goodwill or an intangible asset to become impaired. Should a review indicate impairment, a write-down of the carrying value of the goodwill or intangible asset would occur, resulting in a non-cash charge, which could adversely affect our results of operations and could also lead to our inability to comply with certain covenants in our financing documents, which could cause a default under those agreements.

We are subject to anticorruption laws including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, anti-money laundering laws and economic sanctions laws, and our failure to comply therewith, particularly as we continue to expand internationally, could result in penalties that could harm our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Anticorruption Laws . We are subject to the FCPA, which generally prohibits companies and their agents or intermediaries from making improper payments to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or keeping business and/or other benefits. Although we have policies and procedures designed to ensure that we, our employees, agents and intermediaries comply with the FCPA and other anticorruption laws, such policies or procedures may not work effectively all of the time or protect us against liability for actions taken by our employees, agents and intermediaries with respect to our business or any businesses that we may acquire. In the event that we believe, or have reason to believe, that our employees, agents or intermediaries have or may have violated applicable anti-corruption laws, including the FCPA, we may be required to investigate or have a third party investigate the relevant facts and circumstances, which can be expensive and require significant time and attention from senior management. Our continued operation and expansion outside the United States could increase the risk of such violations in the future.

We are subject to other anti-corruption laws, such as the Bribery Act, which prohibit the giving or receiving of a bribe to any person, including but not limited to public officials, and make failing to prevent bribery by relevant commercial organizations a criminal offense. This offense applies when any person associated with the organization offers or accepts bribes anywhere in the world intending to obtain or retain a business advantage for the organization or in the conduct of business. The Bribery Act is applicable to businesses that operate in the United Kingdom such as us. The Bribery Act is broader in scope than the FCPA in that it directly addresses commercial bribery in addition to bribery of government officials and it does not allow certain exceptions, notably facilitation payments that are permitted by the FCPA.

Other countries in which we operate or have operated, including Brazil and other countries where we intend to operate also have anticorruption laws, which we are, have been or will be subject to.

If we are not in compliance with the FCPA, the Bribery Act and other laws governing the conduct of business with government entities (including local laws), we may be subject to criminal and civil penalties and other remedial measures, which could have an adverse effect on our business, reputation, results of operations and financial condition. Any investigation of any potential violations of the FCPA, the Bribery Act or other anticorruption laws by U.S. or foreign authorities could harm our reputation and could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Anti–Money Laundering Laws . We are also subject to anti-money laundering laws and related compliance obligations in the United States and other jurisdictions in which we do business. In the United States, the USA PATRIOT Act and the Bank Secrecy Act require us to maintain an anti-money laundering compliance program covering certain of our business activities. The program must include: (1) the development of internal policies, procedures and controls; (2) designation of a compliance officer; (3) an ongoing employee training program; and (4) an independent audit function to test the program. If we are not in compliance with U.S. or other anti-money laundering laws, we may be subject to criminal and civil penalties and other remedial measures, which could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Any investigation of any potential violations of anti-money laundering laws by U.S. or international authorities could harm our reputation and could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. In the United Kingdom, we are also subject to specific anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing requirements that require us to develop and maintain anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing policies and procedures, including reporting suspicious activity to the National Crime Agency pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Terrorism Act 2000. On July 9, 2018, the European Union’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive came into force, which introduced four key changes to the anti-money laundering regime but are not applicable to us.

Economic Sanctions Laws . The United States has imposed economic sanctions that affect transactions with designated foreign countries, nationals and others. In particular, the United States prohibits U.S. persons from engaging with individuals and entities identified as “Specially Designated Nationals,” such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers. These prohibitions are administered by the

29

Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”). OFAC rules prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in financial transactions with or relating to the prohibited individual, entity or country, require the blocking of assets in which the individual, entity or country has an interest. Blocked assets (e.g., property or bank deposits) cannot be paid out, withdrawn, set off or transferred in any manner without a license from OFAC. Other countries in which we operate also maintain economic and financial sanctions regimes. In the event that we believe, or have reason to believe, that our employees, agents or intermediaries have or may have violated applicable laws or regulations, we may be required to investigate or have a third party investigate the relevant facts and circumstances, which can be expensive and require significant time and attention from senior management. If we are not in compliance with OFAC regulations and other economic and financial sanctions regulations, we may be subject to criminal and civil penalties and other remedial measures, which could have an adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Any investigation of any potential violations of OFAC regulations or other economic sanctions by U.S. or foreign authorities could harm our reputation and could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Our continued international expansion could increase the risk of violations of FCPA, the Bribery Act, anti-money laundering laws, OFAC regulations, or similar applicable laws and regulations in the future.

Increased competition from banks, credit card companies, other consumer lenders, and other entities offering similar financial products and services could adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

We have many competitors. Our principal competitors are consumer loan and finance companies, CSOs, online lenders, credit card companies, consumer finance companies, pawnshops and other financial institutions that offer similar financial services. Many other financial institutions or other businesses that do not now offer products or services directed toward our traditional customer base, many of whom may be much larger than us, could begin doing so. Significant increases in the number and size of competitors for our business could result in a decrease in the number of loans that we fund, resulting in lower levels of revenue and earnings in these categories.

Competitors of our business may operate, or begin to operate, under business models less focused on legal and regulatory compliance, which could put us at a competitive disadvantage. Some of our U.S. competitors operate using other business models, including a “tribal model” where the lender follows the laws of a Native American tribe regardless of the state in which the customer resides. Competitors using these models may be able to lend in jurisdictions where we do not and may have higher revenue per customer and significantly less burdensome compliance requirements, among other advantages. Additionally, negative perceptions about these models could cause legislators or regulators to pursue additional industry restrictions that could affect the business model under which we operate. To the extent that these models or other new lending models gain acceptance among consumers, small businesses and investors or that they face less onerous regulatory restrictions than we do, we may be unable to replicate their business practices or otherwise compete with them effectively, which could cause demand for our products to decline substantially. We may be unable to compete successfully against any or all of our current or future competitors. As a result, we could lose market share and our revenue could decline, thereby affecting our ability to generate sufficient cash flow to service our indebtedness and fund our operations. Any such changes in our competition could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Our success is dependent, in part, upon our officers, and if we are not able to attract and retain qualified officers, our business could be materially adversely affected.

Our success depends, in part, on our officers, which are a relatively small group of individuals. Many members of the senior management team have significant industry experience, and we believe that our senior management would be difficult to replace, if necessary. Because the market for qualified individuals is highly competitive, we may not be able to attract and retain qualified officers or candidates. In addition, increasing regulations on and negative publicity about the consumer financial services industry could affect our ability to attract and retain qualified officers. If we are unable to attract or retain qualified officers, it could materially adversely affect our business.

Our international operations subject us to foreign exchange risk.

We are subject to the risk of unexpected changes in foreign currency exchange rates by virtue of our loans to residents of Brazil and the United Kingdom. In 2018, 15.0% of our total revenue was derived from our international operations. Our results of operations and certain of our intercompany balances associated with our Brazil and United Kingdom businesses are denominated in their respective currencies and are, as a result, exposed to foreign exchange rate fluctuations. Upon consolidation, as exchange rates vary, gross profit and other operating results may differ materially from expectations, and we may record significant gains or losses on the remeasurement of intercompany balances.

30

A sustained deterioration in the economy could reduce demand for our products and services and result in reduced earnings.

A sustained deterioration in the economy could cause deterioration in the performance of our loan and finance receivables portfolios. An economic slowdown could result in a decreased number of loans and financing being made to customers due to higher unemployment or an increase in defaults in our products. During an economic slowdown, we could be required to tighten our underwriting standards, which would likely reduce loan and finance receivable balances, and we could face more difficulty in collecting defaulted receivables, which could lead to an increase in losses.

We may be unable to protect our proprietary technology and analytics or keep up with that of our competitors.

The success of our business depends to a significant degree upon the protection of our software, fraud defenses, underwriting algorithms and other proprietary intellectual property rights. We may be unable to deter misappropriation of our proprietary information, detect unauthorized use or take appropriate steps to enforce our intellectual property rights. In addition, competitors could, without violating our proprietary rights, develop technologies that are as good as or better than our technology. Our failure to protect our software and other proprietary intellectual property rights or to develop technologies that are as good as our competitors’ could put us at a disadvantage relative to our competitors. Any such failures could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We may be subject to intellectual property disputes, which are costly to defend and could harm our business and operating results.

From time to time, we face, and we expect to face in the future, allegations that we have infringed the trademarks, copyrights, patents or other intellectual property rights of third parties, including from our competitors or non-practicing entities. Patent and other intellectual property litigation may be protracted and expensive, and the results are difficult to predict and may require us to stop offering certain products or product features, acquire licenses, which may not be available at a commercially reasonable price or at all, or modify our products, product features, processes or websites while we develop non-infringing substitutes.

In addition, we use open source software in our technology platform and plan to use open source software in the future. From time to time, we may face claims from parties claiming ownership of, or demanding release of, the source code, potentially including our valuable proprietary code, or derivative works that were developed using such software, or otherwise seeking to enforce the terms of the applicable open source license. These claims could also result in litigation, require us to purchase a costly license or require us to devote additional research and development resources to change our platform, any of which could have a negative effect on our business and operating results.

We are subject to cyber security risks and security breaches and may incur increasing costs in an effort to minimize those risks and to respond to cyber incidents.

Our business involves the storage and transmission of consumers’ and businesses’ proprietary information, and security breaches could expose us to a risk of loss or misuse of this information, litigation, and potential liability. We are entirely dependent on the secure operation of our websites and systems as well as the operation of the internet generally. While we have incurred no material cyber-attacks or security breaches to date, a number of other companies have disclosed cyber-attacks and security breaches, some of which have involved intentional attacks. Attacks may be targeted at us, our customers, or both. Although we devote significant resources to maintain and regularly upgrade our systems and processes that are designed to protect the security of our computer systems, software, networks and other technology assets and the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information belonging to us and our customers, our security measures may not provide absolute security. Despite our efforts to ensure the integrity of our systems, it is possible that we may not be able to anticipate or to implement effective preventive measures against all security breaches of these types, especially because the techniques used change frequently or are not recognized until launched, and because cyber-attacks can originate from a wide variety of sources, including third parties outside the company such as persons who are involved with organized crime or associated with external service providers or who may be linked to terrorist organizations or hostile foreign governments. These risks may increase in the future as we continue to increase our mobile and other internet-based product offerings and expand our internal usage of web-based products and applications or expand into new countries. If an actual or perceived breach of security occurs, customer and/or supplier perception of the effectiveness of our security measures could be harmed and could result in the loss of customers, suppliers or both. Actual or anticipated attacks and risks may cause us to incur increasing costs, including costs to deploy additional personnel and protection technologies, train employees, and engage third party experts and consultants.

A successful penetration or circumvention of the security of our systems could cause serious negative consequences, including significant disruption of our operations, misappropriation of our confidential information or that of our customers, or damage to our computers or systems or those of our customers and counterparties, and could result in violations of applicable privacy and other laws, financial loss to us or to our customers, loss of confidence in our security measures, customer dissatisfaction, significant litigation exposure, and harm to our reputation, all of which could have a material adverse effect on us. In addition, our applicants provide sensitive information, including bank account information when applying for loans or financing. We rely on encryption and authentication technology licensed from third parties to provide the security and authentication to effectively secure transmission of

31

confidential information, including customer bank account and other personal information. Advances in computer capabilities, new discoveries in the field of cryptography or other developments may result in the technology used by us to protect transaction data being breached or compromised. Data breaches can also occur as a result of non-technical issues . In addition, federal and some state regulators are considering rules and standards to address cybersecurity risks and many U.S. states and the United Kingdom have already enacted laws requiring companies to notify individuals of data security breaches involving their personal data. These mandatory disclosures regarding a security breach are costly to implement and may lead to widespread negative publicity, which may cause customers to lose confidence in the effectiveness of our data security measures.

Our servers are also vulnerable to computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins, and similar disruptions, including denial-of-service attacks. We may need to expend significant resources to protect against security breaches or to address problems caused by breaches. Security breaches, including any breach of our systems or by persons with whom we have commercial relationships that result in the unauthorized release of consumers’ personal information or businesses’ proprietary information, could damage our reputation and expose us to a risk of loss or litigation and possible liability. In addition, many of the third parties who provide products, services or support to us could also experience any of the above cyber risks or security breaches, which could impact our customers and our business and could result in a loss of customers, suppliers or revenue.

Any of these events could result in a loss of revenue and could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Our ability to collect payment on loans and maintain the accuracy of accounts may be adversely affected by computer viruses, electronic break-ins, technical errors and similar disruptions.

The accessibility and automated nature of our platform may make for an attractive target for hacking, computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins and similar disruptions. Despite efforts to ensure the integrity of our platform, it is possible that we may not be able to anticipate or to implement effective preventive measures against all security breaches of these types, in which case there would be an increased risk of fraud or identity theft, and we may experience losses on, or delays in the collection of amounts owed on, a fraudulently induced loan. In addition, the software that we have developed is highly complex and may contain undetected technical errors that could cause our computer systems to fail. Because each loan and financing provided involves our proprietary underwriting and fraud scoring models, and the applications are highly automated, any failure of our computer systems involving our proprietary credit and fraud scoring models and any technical or other errors contained in the software pertaining to our proprietary underwriting and fraud scoring models could compromise the ability to accurately evaluate potential customers, which would negatively impact our results of operations. Furthermore, any failure of our computer systems could cause an interruption in operations that may result in disruptions or reductions in the amount of collections from the loans and financings we provide to customers. If any of these risks were to materialize, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.

If internet search engine providers change their methodologies for organic rankings or paid search results, or our organic rankings or paid search results decline for other reasons, our new customer growth or volume from returning customers could decline.

Our new customer acquisition marketing and our returning customer relationship management is partly dependent on search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo! to direct a significant amount of traffic to our desktop and mobile websites via organic ranking and paid search advertising. Our competitors’ paid search activities, pay per click or search engine marketing may result in their sites receiving higher paid search results than ours and significantly increasing the cost of such advertising for us.

Our paid search activities may not produce (and in the past have not always produced) the desired results. Internet search engines often revise their methodologies, which could adversely affect our organic rankings or paid search results, resulting in a decline in our new customer growth or existing customer retention, difficulty for our customers in using our web and mobile sites, more successful organic rankings, paid search results or tactical execution efforts for our competitors than for us, a slowdown in overall growth in our customer base and the loss of existing customers, and higher costs for acquiring returning customers, which could adversely impact our business. In addition, search engines could implement policies that restrict the ability of consumer finance companies such as us to advertise their services and products, which could preclude companies in our industry from appearing in a favorable location or any location in the organic rankings or paid search results when certain search terms are used by the consumer. For example, in 2016, Google implemented a new policy that prohibits lenders, lead providers and affiliates from advertising certain financial products on Google AdWords. Advertisements for personal loans that require repayment within 60 days, or U.S. loans with an APR of 36 percent or more, are no longer allowed on Google paid search advertising. In addition, Google requires that advertisements for personal loans contain or link to information about the features, fees, risks and benefits of the advertised loan product.  

Our online marketing efforts are also susceptible to actions by third parties that could negatively impact our search results. Our sites have experienced meaningful fluctuations in organic rankings and paid search results in the past, and we anticipate similar fluctuations

32

in the future. Any reduction in the number of consumers or small businesses directed to our web and mobile sites could harm our business and operating results.

Our operations could be subject to natural disasters and other business disruptions, which could adversely impact our future revenue and financial condition and increase our costs and expenses.

Our services and operations are vulnerable to damage or interruption from tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, floods, power losses, telecommunications failures, terrorist attacks, acts of war, human errors and similar events. A significant natural disaster, such as a tornado, hurricane, earthquake, fire or flood, could have a material adverse impact on our ability to conduct business, and our insurance coverage may be insufficient to compensate for losses that may occur. Acts of terrorism, war, civil unrest, violence or human error could cause disruptions to our business or the economy as a whole. Any of these events could cause consumer and small business confidence to decrease, which could result in a decreased number of loans and financing being made to customers. Any of these occurrences could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Failure to keep up with the rapid changes in e-commerce and the uses and regulation of the internet could harm our business.

The business of providing products and services such as ours over the internet is dynamic and relatively new. We must keep pace with rapid technological change, consumer and small business use habits, internet security risks, risks of system failure or inadequacy, and governmental regulation and taxation, and each of these factors could adversely impact our business. In addition, concerns about fraud, computer security and privacy and/or other problems may discourage additional consumers and small businesses from adopting or continuing to use the internet as a medium of commerce. In countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, where e-commerce generally has been available for some time and the level of market penetration of our online financial services is relatively high, acquiring new customers for our services may be more difficult and costly than it has been in the past. In order to expand our customer base, we must appeal to and acquire customers who historically have used traditional means of commerce to conduct their financial services transactions. If these customers prove to be less profitable than our previous customers, and we are unable to gain efficiencies in our operating costs, including our cost of acquiring new customers, our business could be adversely impacted.

Our business is subject to complex and evolving U.S. and international laws and regulations regarding privacy, data protection, and other matters. Many of these laws and regulations are subject to change and uncertain interpretation, and could result in claims, changes to our business practices, monetary penalties, increased cost of operations, or declines in user growth or engagement, or otherwise harm our business.

Our business is subject to a variety of laws and regulations in the United States and internationally that involve user privacy issues, data protection, advertising, marketing, disclosures, distribution, electronic contracts and other communications, consumer protection and online payment services. The introduction of new products or expansion of our activities in certain jurisdictions may subject us to additional laws and regulations. In addition, international data protection, privacy, and other laws and regulations can be more restrictive than those in the United States. U.S. federal and state and international laws and regulations, which can be enforced by private parties or government entities, are constantly evolving and can be subject to significant change, and the U.S. government, including the FTC and the Commerce Department, has announced that it is reviewing the need for greater regulation of the collection of information concerning consumer behavior on the internet, including regulation aimed at restricting certain targeted advertising practices. In addition, the application and interpretation of these laws and regulations are often uncertain, particularly in the new and rapidly evolving e-commerce industry in which we operate, and may be interpreted and applied inconsistently from country to country and inconsistently with our current or past policies and practices. A number of proposals are pending before federal, state, and international legislative and regulatory bodies that could significantly affect our business. There have been a number of recent legislative proposals in the United States, at both the federal and state level, that could impose new obligations in areas such as privacy. In addition, some countries are considering legislation requiring local storage and processing of data that, if enacted, would increase the cost and complexity of delivering our services. These existing and proposed laws and regulations can be costly to comply with and can delay or impede the development of new products, the expansion into new markets, result in negative publicity, increase our operating costs, require significant management time and attention, and subject us to inquiries or investigations, claims or other remedies, including demands that we modify or cease existing business practices or pay fines, penalties or other damages.

Growth may place significant demands on our management and our infrastructure and could be costly.

We have experienced substantial growth in our business. This growth has placed and may continue to place significant demands on our management and our operational and financial infrastructure. Expanding our products or entering into new jurisdictions with new or existing products can be costly and require significant management time and attention. Additionally, as our operations grow in size, scope and complexity and our product offerings increase, we will need to enhance and upgrade our systems and infrastructure to offer an increasing number of enhanced solutions, features and functionality. The expansion of our systems and infrastructure will require us to commit substantial financial, operational and technical resources in advance of an increase in the volume of business, with no

33

assurance that the volume of business will increase. Continued growth could also strain our ability to maintain reliable service levels for our customers, develop and improve our operational, financial and management controls, develop and enhance our legal and compliance controls and processes, enhance our reporting systems and procedures and recruit, train and retain highly skilled personnel. Competition for these personnel is intense and is particularly intense for technology and analytics professionals. We may not be successful in attracting and retaining qualified personnel. We have from time to time in the past experienced, and we expect to experience in the future, difficulty in hiring and retaining highly skilled employees with appropriate qualifications. Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources or more attractive compensation mixes than we have had. Managing our growth will require significant expenditures and allocation of valuable management resources. Failure to achieve the necessary level of efficiency in our organization as it grows could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and could impair our ability to continue current operations.

New top-level domain names may allow the entrance of new competitors or dilution of our brands, which may reduce the value of our domain name assets.

We have invested heavily in promoting our brands, including our website addresses. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the entity responsible for administering internet protocol addresses, has introduced additional new domain name suffixes in different formats, many of which may be more attractive than the formats held by us and which may allow the entrance of new competitors at limited cost. It may also permit other operators to register websites with addresses similar to ours, causing customer confusion and dilution of our brands, which could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Any defensive domain registration strategy or attempts to protect our trademarks or brands could become a large and recurring expense and may not be successful.

Future acquisitions could disrupt our business and harm our financial condition and operating results.

Our success will depend, in part, on our ability to expand our product and service offerings and markets and grow our business in response to changing customer demands, regulatory environments, technologies and competitive pressures. In some circumstances, we may expand our offerings through the acquisition of complementary businesses, solutions or technologies rather than through internal development. The identification of suitable acquisition candidates can be difficult, time-consuming and costly, and we may not be able to successfully complete identified acquisitions. Furthermore, even if we successfully complete an acquisition, we may not be able to successfully assimilate and integrate the business, technologies, solutions, personnel or operations of the business that we acquire, particularly if key personnel of an acquired company decide not to work for us. In addition, we may issue equity securities to complete an acquisition, which would dilute our stockholders’ ownership and could adversely affect the price of our common stock. Acquisitions may also involve the entry into geographic or business markets in which we have little or no prior experience or may expose us to additional material liabilities. Consequently, we may not achieve anticipated benefits of the acquisitions, which could harm our operating results.

We may incur property, casualty or other losses not covered by insurance.

We maintain a program of insurance coverage for various types of property, casualty and other risks. The types and amounts of insurance that we obtain will vary from time to time, depending on availability, cost and management’s decisions with respect to risk retention. The policies are subject to deductibles and exclusions that could result in our retention of a level of risk on a self-insurance basis. Losses not covered by insurance could be substantial and may increase our expenses, which could harm our results of operations and financial condition.

34

The preparation of our financial statements and certain tax positions taken by us require the judgment of management, and we could be subject to risks associated with these judgments or could be adversely affected by the implementation of new, or changes in the interpretation of existing, accounting principles, financial reporting requirements or tax rules.

The preparation of our financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities, at the dates of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. In addition, management’s judgment is required in determining the provision for income taxes, the deferred tax assets and liabilities and any valuation allowance recorded against deferred tax assets. Management’s judgment is also required in evaluating whether tax benefits meet the more-likely-than-not threshold for recognition under Accounting Standards Codification 740-10-25, Income Taxes . Upon audit, if the ultimate determination of the taxes owed by us is for an amount in excess of amounts previously accrued, we could be required to make certain additional tax payments, which could materially adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

On December 22, 2017, the U.S. government enacted comprehensive Federal tax legislation commonly referred to as the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “Tax Act”). The Tax Act made changes to the corporate tax rate, business-related deductions, among other items, effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017. In accordance with SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 (“SAB 118”), the Company included certain adjustments, related to the finalization of computations related to the Tax Act, in income tax expense as of December 31, 2018. As of December 22, 2018, the Company considers the one-year period provided for under SAB 118 to be closed. Although our accounting for the effects of the Tax Act is finalized under SAB 118, there may be future adjustments based on potential changes in the interpretation of the Tax Act, related regulations, or any subsequent guidance that may be issued. While U.S. tax reform has reduced our effective tax rate, additional guidance or interpretations of the Tax Act could negatively impact our financial results.

In addition, we prepare our financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and its interpretations are subject to change over time. If new rules or interpretations of existing rules require us to change our financial reporting, our results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected, and we could be required to restate historical financial reporting.

Our U.S. consumer loan businesses are seasonal in nature, which causes our revenue and earnings to fluctuate.

Our U.S. consumer loan businesses are affected by fluctuating demand for our products and services and fluctuating collection rates throughout the year. Demand for our consumer loan products in the United States has historically been highest in the third and fourth quarters of each year, corresponding to the holiday season, and lowest in the first quarter of each year, corresponding to our customers’ receipt of income tax refunds. Typically, our cost of revenue for our consumer loan products in the United States, which represents our loan loss provision, is lowest as a percentage of revenue in the first quarter of each year, corresponding to our customers’ receipt of income tax refunds, and increases as a percentage of revenue for the remainder of each year. This seasonality requires us to manage our cash flows over the course of the year. If our revenue or collections were to fall substantially below what we would normally expect during certain periods, our ability to service debt and meet our other liquidity requirements may be adversely affected, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, and financial condition.

Risks Related to the Spin-Off

Enova International, Inc. was formed on September 7, 2011. Prior to November 13, 2014, we were a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cash America. Since 2011, we have owned all of the assets and incurred all of the liabilities related to Cash America’s e-commerce business, with some limited exceptions, in which case such assets were transferred to us and such liabilities were assumed by us pursuant to a separation and distribution agreement (the “Separation and Distribution Agreement”) upon completion of a tax-free spin-off (the “Spin-off”), which occurred on November 13, 2014. Following the Spin-off, we became an independent, publicly traded company, and our shares of common stock are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “ENVA.” On September 1, 2016, Cash America merged with First Cash Financial Services, Inc. and is now known as FirstCash, Inc. (“First Cash”).

In connection with our Spin-off from Cash America, we and Cash America (and our successors) agreed to indemnify each other for certain liabilities. If we are required to act on our indemnities, we may need to divert cash to meet those obligations, and Cash America’s (or its successors) indemnity could be insufficient or Cash America (or its successors) could be unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations.

Pursuant to the Separation and Distribution Agreement and other agreements with Cash America, Cash America (and any successor) agreed to indemnify us for certain liabilities related to tax, regulatory, litigation or other liabilities, and we agreed to indemnify Cash America (and any successor) for certain similar liabilities, in each case for uncapped amounts. Indemnities that we may be required to provide Cash America (and any successor) are not subject to any cap, may be significant and could negatively impact our business, particularly indemnities relating to our actions that could impact the tax-free nature of the distribution. Third parties could also seek to

35

hold us responsible for any of the liabilities that Cash America (and any successor) agreed to retain. Further, the indemnity from Cash America (and any successor) could be insufficient to protect us against the full amount of such liabilities, or Cash America (and any successor) may be unable to fully satisfy its indemnification obligations. Moreover, even if we ultimately succeed in recovering from Cash America (and any successor) any amounts for which we are held liable, we may be temporarily required to bear these losses ourselves and could suffer reputational risks if the losses are related to regulatory, litigation or other matters. Each of these risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

The Spin-off may expose us to potential liabilities arising out of state and federal fraudulent conveyance laws and legal distribution requirements.

The Spin-off could be challenged under various state and federal fraudulent conveyance laws. An unpaid creditor or an entity vested with the power of such creditor (such as a trustee or debtor-in-possession in a bankruptcy) could claim that the distribution left Cash America insolvent or with unreasonably small capital or that Cash America intended or believed it would incur debts beyond its ability to pay such debts as they mature and that Cash America did not receive fair consideration or reasonably equivalent value in the Spin-off. If a court were to agree with such a claim, then such court could void the distribution as a fraudulent transfer and could impose a number of different remedies, including without limitation, returning our assets or the distributed shares of our stock to Cash America, voiding our liens and claims against Cash America, or providing Cash America with a claim for money damages against us in an amount equal to the difference between the consideration received by Cash America and the fair market value of our Company at the time of the distribution.

The measure of insolvency for purposes of the fraudulent conveyance laws will vary depending on which jurisdiction’s law is applied. Generally, however, an entity would be considered insolvent if either the fair saleable value of its assets is less than the amount of its liabilities (including the probable amount of contingent liabilities), or it is unlikely to be able to pay its liabilities as they become due. We do not know what standard a court would apply to determine insolvency. Further, a court could determine that Cash America was insolvent at the time of or after giving effect to the distribution of Enova common stock.

Under the Separation and Distribution Agreement, we are responsible for the debts, liabilities and other obligations related to the business or businesses which we own and operate. Although we do not expect to be liable for any obligations not expressly assumed by us pursuant to the Separation and Distribution Agreement, it is possible that we could be required to assume responsibility for certain obligations retained by Cash America should Cash America (or its successor) fail to pay or perform its retained obligations.

Risks Related to our Indebtedness

We have incurred significant indebtedness, which could adversely affect our financial condition and prevent us from fulfilling our obligations under anticipated agreements governing our indebtedness.

As of December 31, 2018 we had approximately $857.9 million of total debt outstanding. Interest expense on our indebtedness totaled $80.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2018. Our level of debt could have important consequences to our stockholders, including:

We and our subsidiaries may incur significant additional indebtedness in the future. If new indebtedness is added to our current indebtedness levels, the related risks that we face would increase.

36

The terms of the agreements governing our indebtedness restrict our current and future operations, particularly our ability to respond to changes or to take certain actions, which could harm our long-term interests.

The agreements governing our indebtedness (including the indenture governing the 2024 Senior Notes, the 2025 Senior Notes and the 2017 Credit Agreement, as defined under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources” in Part II, Item 7 of this report) contain various restrictive covenants and, in the case of the 2017 Credit Agreement, require that we maintain certain financial ratios that impose operating and financial restrictions on us and limit our ability to engage in actions that may be in our long-term best interests. These restrictive covenants, among other things, restrict our ability to:

As a result of all of these covenants and restrictions, we may be:

Any failure to comply with any of these financial and other affirmative and negative covenants could constitute an event of default under our debt agreements, entitling the lenders to, among other things, terminate future credit availability under our 2017 Credit Agreement, and/or increase the interest rate on outstanding debt, and/or accelerate the maturity of outstanding obligations under our debt agreements. Any such default could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and could impair our ability to continue current operations. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources” in Part II, Item 7 of this report for additional information concerning our indebtedness.

We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service our indebtedness and may be forced to take other actions to satisfy our obligations under our indebtedness, which may not be successful.

Our ability to make scheduled payments on or refinance our debt obligations will depend on our financial condition and operating performance and our ability to enter into other debt financings, which are subject to prevailing economic and competitive conditions and to financial, business, legislative, regulatory, capital markets and other factors beyond our control. We might not be able to maintain a level of cash flows from operating activities sufficient to permit us to pay the principal, premium, if any, and interest on our indebtedness. For information regarding the risks to our business that could impair our ability to satisfy our obligations under our indebtedness, see “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Industry.” If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt service obligations, we could face substantial liquidity problems and could be forced to reduce or delay investments and capital expenditures or to dispose of material assets or operations, seek additional debt or equity capital or restructure or refinance our indebtedness. We may not be able to affect any such alternative measures on commercially reasonable terms or at all and, even if successful, those alternative actions may not allow us to meet our scheduled debt service obligations. If we cannot make scheduled payments on our debt, we will be in default, and lenders could declare all outstanding principal and interest to be due and payable, the lenders under our 2017 Credit Agreement could terminate their commitments to loan money and we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation. The agreements governing our indebtedness restrict our ability to dispose of assets and use the proceeds from those dispositions and also restrict our ability to raise debt or equity capital to be used to repay other indebtedness when it becomes due. We may not be able to consummate those dispositions or to obtain proceeds in an amount sufficient to meet any debt service obligations then due. Our inability to generate sufficient cash flows to satisfy our debt obligations, or to refinance our indebtedness on commercially reasonable terms or at all, would materially and adversely affect our financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and cash flows and our ability to satisfy our obligations under our indebtedness.

37

Changes in our financial condition or a potential disruption in the capital markets could reduce available capital.

If funds are not available from our operations and any excess cash or from our 2017 Credit Agreement, we may be required to access the banking and credit markets to meet our financial commitments and short-term liquidity needs. We also expect to periodically access the debt capital markets to obtain capital to finance growth. Efficient access to the debt capital markets will be critical to our ongoing financial success; however, our future access to the debt capital markets could become restricted due to a variety of factors, including a deterioration of our earnings, cash flows, balance sheet quality, or overall business or industry prospects, adverse regulatory changes, a disruption to or deterioration in the state of the capital markets or a negative bias toward our industry by market participants. Disruptions and volatility in the capital markets may cause banks and other credit providers to restrict availability of new credit. Due to the negative bias toward our industry, commercial banks and other lenders have restricted access to available credit to participants in our industry, and we may have more limited access to commercial bank lending than other businesses. Our ability to obtain additional financing in the future will depend in part upon prevailing capital market conditions, and a potential disruption in the capital markets may adversely affect our efforts to arrange additional financing on terms that are satisfactory to us, if at all. If adequate funds are not available, or are not available on acceptable terms, we may not have sufficient liquidity to fund our operations, make future investments, take advantage of acquisitions or other opportunities, or respond to competitive challenges and this, in turn, could adversely affect our ability to advance our strategic plans. Additionally, if the capital and credit markets experience volatility, and the availability of funds is limited, third parties with whom we do business may incur increased costs or business disruption and this could adversely affect our business relationships with such third parties.

Risks Related to our Common Stock and the Securities Market

Certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws and Delaware law may discourage takeovers.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes our Board of Directors to issue preferred stock and to determine the designations, powers, preferences, and relative, participating, optional, or other special rights, if any, and the qualifications, limitations, or restrictions of our preferred stock, including the number of shares, in any series, without any further vote or action by the stockholders. The rights of the holders of our common stock will be subject to the rights of the holders of any preferred stock that may be issued in the future. The issuance of preferred stock could delay, deter, or prevent a change in control and could adversely affect the voting power or economic value of our stock.

In addition, some provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire control of us, even if the change of control would be beneficial to our stockholders, including:

The market price of our shares may fluctuate widely.

The market price of our common stock may be influenced by many factors, some of which are beyond our control, including, among other things:

38

The stock markets have experienced price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market price of equity securities of many companies. These fluctuations have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of these companies. These broad market fluctuations, as well as general economic, systemic, political, and market conditions, such as recessions, loss of investor confidence or interest rate changes, may negatively affect the market price of our common stock.

If securities or industry analysts publish research that is unfavorable about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock depends in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We currently have a limited number of analysts who are publishing research about us. In the event that one or more of our analysts downgrades our stock or publishes misleading or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price could decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of our company, demand for our stock may decrease, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

We do not anticipate paying any dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. As a result, stockholders will need to sell their shares of common stock to receive any income or realize a return on their investment.

We do not anticipate paying any dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Any declaration and payment of future dividends to holders of our common stock may be limited by the provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”) and are limited by the terms of the 2017 Credit Agreement, 2024 Senior Notes, 2025 Senior Notes and our consumer loan securitizations. The future payment of dividends, if permitted, will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on many factors, including our earnings, capital requirements, financial condition, and other considerations that our Board of Directors deem relevant. As a result, to receive any income or realize a return on their investment, our stockholders will need to sell their shares of common stock.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the exclusive forum for certain litigation that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed to us or our stockholders by any of our directors, officers, employees or agents, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us arising under the DGCL or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Our stockholders are deemed to have notice of and have consented to the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation related to choice of forum. The choice of forum provision in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.